


The Accident

by sickmorbid



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Car Accidents, Confusion, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-17 05:54:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15454794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sickmorbid/pseuds/sickmorbid
Summary: “Detective?” A cool hand on his wrist brought him back down. Gavin hadn’t realized he had been shaking.





	1. Better Call a Cab

The hard crunch of glass under his feet broke him out of trance and snapped him back into reality. 

Soft pitter patters of raindrops off his coat and shoes, off the tangled mess of metal he emerged from. The engine choked and hummed, wheels spinning idly in the night air. But it was all muffled by the deafening ringing in his ears, nothing but weak stimulus in comparison to how hard his body rocked and his heart beat. 

Gavin stumbled away from the disaster that used to be his car, taking a moment to shakily check his own pulse--140 beats per minute, but he swore he could barely feel it racing. The rain quickly soaked his hair and jacket, made worse by the strengthening wind, once again battling with that horrible sound he couldn't drown out no matter how hard he tried to focus on anything else.

He smacked his hands to his head, running them wickedly through his hair, across his face, rubbing his eyes and wiping away what he could only guess were tiny splatters of blood. He was alive. He was alive. He was al-- 

The sound of the passenger seat door being kicked open, followed by the dragging of fingers on wet pavement and the heavy crunching of glass underneath a dress shoe. Gavin spun on his heel, almost losing his balance, knees still weak and unsupportive as he watched RK900 lift himself out of the wreckage of the bloodied vehicle. 

Even in the face of a near death experience, his expression was still unmoved. Gavin had never envied someone so much in his life.

The rain was quick to ruin his hair, plastering his curls over his forehead. His normally brilliant white coat began to dim to grey as it got drenched, his pants stained with the faintest amount of mud and hints of motor oil. A small trickle of thirium, almost glowing in the radiance of a nearby streetlamp, fell from his brow--- 

Thirium? So he-- 

Before Gavin knew what he was doing, before he had time to process his own hasty actions, he stumble-fell his way to RK900, all the composure he had built up while assessing the situation quickly draining away as he nearly fell into the Android's body, crunching wet cloth to wet cloth. 

The android, irises cold and grey, analyzed the detective before catching his weight in his arms with a small step backwards into another pile of glass. 

"You could have died." 

Gavin grabbed fistfulls of the android's jacket, pawing and clawing his way up to his shoulders and back, hands clamy and desperate to feel him, to know that he was real and there with him. 

"You could have fucking died, Nines." 

The android wrapped an arm around Gavin's back as he fell apart. Gavin quietly unraveled right then and there, burying his head into the android's shoulder, face and body burning and with the hope that the wind would choke out his dry sobs. His knuckles were white and as he cried they fell from RK900's shoulders down to his sides. Out of strength. 

"Your breaks had given out, Detective. When you went to take the turn they locked up and we rolled 4 times. You're chances of survival were only 43% as the airbags were unable to deploy. It would not have mattered if I died." 

Gavin's mouth was dry and his head felt like it was going to explode. The rain soaked him to the core and he remained silent, simply breathing in the scent of Nines' clothing. He still had that factory fresh smell, just barely stronger than the smell of the acid in the rainwater. 

"I have already reported the incident to the police department as well as your insurance company, Detective Reed. 1:47 AM, Central Standard Time, at the corner of Banker Street and Tall Oaks Boulevard. We have been given permission to leave the scene if you would like a change of clothes" 

Gavin managed to get a shaky laugh out, finding himself nearly out of breath and light headed simply from that. He attempted to back away from the android only to find himself tangled in his arms, legs about to give out and body too weak to struggle. He brought his hands back up to Nines' shoulders and the his neck, running his callused hands in slow circles to ease his nerves. To take him in. 

They were alive.

"Better get to calling a cab then, before it gets any worse out here."


	2. 3 A.M

“How many sugars would you like with your coffee, sir?”

“J-just two, thank you. No--no I don’t need any creamer, thank you.”

With an earnest grin the waitress tipped the coffee pot back, finishing the top-off on Gavin’s drink, and turned to head back to her place at the diner bar. She worked with two other cooks behind the bar, though they were mostly busy cleaning the burners at the moment; besides the detective and his android there were maybe 2 or 3 other patrons scattered across the dining area, each just as dark-eyed and worked up as he was.

Leaving the scene of the car accident, RK900 had suggested they stop at the Waffle House down the road to give the detective a chance to collect himself--and more importantly warm up. He had taken off his Cyberlife jacket and hung it on Gavin’s shoulders as they made their way down the road, wiping the thirium dripping down his face with the sleeve of his dress shirt before rolling them up to his elbow.

Despite the fact the once-perfect, now-ruined coat was drenched in rain water, much like Gavin’s own jacket was, it did its job at warming him up. Or at least making him feel safer. Or both. He was far too distracted to think too much about how it weighed down on his shoulders, about how he couldn’t discern if he was burning up or freezing cold. All he could think about was the crash of rain water, the screech of tires, metal breaking all around him. The ringing. The glass--

“Detective?” A cool hand on his wrist brought him back down. Gavin hadn’t realized he had been shaking. 

He snapped his eyes up to meet the android’s eyes, still cool and collected with a hint of concern masked behind his stoic gaze. If Gavin squinted hard enough, he could swear he could see the lights behind his irises, little tiny mechanisms turning and shifting in a miraculous little way that made them seem like real eyes and not some advanced piece of machinery. 

“I'm fine… just--” 

“You’ve been dazed out for the last 6 minutes. Your coffee will be cold soon; you should really enjoy your beverage, detective.” A gentle squeeze to his wrist. 

If Gavin hadn't been hyperfixated on the sensation of literally anything on his flesh, he probably would've missed it. Like he usually did. 

Gavin pulled his hands away, tucking his elbows towards his body as he took a sip. Bitter and horrible and just the way he needed it to be right now. He shivered in relief. 

“I'm trying, Tinman. But it's hard to enjoy anything with you breathing down my throat.” He managed to squeak out a laugh and recoiled at the sound of his own voice, broken and shaky and making it way too obvious that he was still scared. He swallowed hard and tugged the android’s jacket just a little closer to his body, looking off at the ground somewhere. 

There was a shift at the other end of the booth. He looked up.

“If you would like to have a moment to yourself, detective, I can step outside for a moment.” 

Gavin lunged across the table so fast he almost knocked his drink over. One hand on RK900’s own, the other desperately tugging at his sleeve.

“Please don't leave me.” Breathless. Weak. “I can't be alone right now…” He was shaking again, knuckles turning white against the android’s dark dress shirt. He could hear his own heart beat, deafening in his own ears, drowning out everything else around him. Eyes wet. “Please.” 

RK900 stopped in his twisted movement, half-standing, half-sitting, meeting the detective’s eyes again. Gavin couldn't quite figure out what emotion was strewn across his face, but could feel his own burning. Scalding hot and red, probably, but he didn't care. All he cared about was getting the point across. He did his best to settle back into his booth, shakily bringing the cup to his lips for another sip. RK900 sat down again and Gavin could feel him shift to cross his legs under the table. 

Instead of a ‘very well, detective’ or ‘if you insist, detective,’ Gavin was greeted with silence while Nines simply sat there and looked him over, chin rested on his interlocked fingers. The heat of the diner had started to dry him up some, the curls popping off his forehead again and the dampness in his shirt disappearing. 

Gavin supposed he probably had some sort of built in aero-system that made him hydrophobic… or, something. He suddenly felt bad about the coat strung across his shoulders, the extra protection he didn't ask for but so desperately needed. It would probably be drying now if it hadn't been laced over his soaking figure. He shrugged his shoulders closer together to take it in. 

Maybe he should think about something else? 

Behind him he could hear one of the patrons swiping on their tablet, probably reading emails or checking the news--Gavin could just barely remember seeing people use newspapers when he was a teenager. He struggled to remember what the sound of damp papers flipping sounded like. To his side he could hear the gentle sizzle of grease on the burners as eggs were being cooked for a younger women who had came in just shortly after them. Somehow he had missed the comforting sound of the bell above the door chiming to announce her entrance, let alone theirs. 

He raised the cup to his lips and was surprised to find himself sucking in black sugar grains from the bottom of the paper. Had he really gulped his coffee down that fast? Just how long had he been spacing out for? 

“--our cab will be here in roughly 2 minutes, 28 seconds, provided the rain doesn't pick up again, Detective.” 

Gavin shot him a look. How did he know when to call a cab? Had he kept track of time that whole time, running calculations as to how long it would take him to finish his drink so he could time the taxi getting there perfectly? Little things like that--those little invasions of privacy…

Left him feeling strangely… important. Normally he would leap at his throat, call Nines a bitch and a bastard, ask him why he couldn't ever keep his fucking hands off things. But none of that anger was there now. Maybe it never had been, truly.

Instead he just sighed, shifting his waist to pull himself out of the booth and realizing he was still all-too wobbly on his feet. The corners of his vision started to fade grey, just for a moment, and his face burned. Suddenly he ached, all over his body, in places it didn't even make sense to ache in considering the… 

The accident. The reason Nines called a cab. Right. 

Gavin scuffled his way to the door, crushing and dropping the empty cup in a waste bin. He leaned an arm against the door, looking down over his hands and at this feet. He idly bit his lip, rubbed them together and wiped his mouth with his sleeve, hungry for feeling. To know he was really awake, that this was happening. He heard Nines moving to follow him but didn't look up, simply waited to feel his heat looming over his body before pushing the door open for the both of them.   
Either the android was incorrect with his calculation, or Gavin was really dragging ass, because the cab was right there. Back door propped open, seat illuminated by a dusty bulb. A gruff man with a heavy coat and beard sat up front, a long stream of smoke trailing behind his cigar. Nines must have deliberately called a human taxi to make Gavin feel better, despite the higher pay rate. That wasn't the important thing right now. 

“You gettin’ in er what?” 

A gentle push from RK900 was all it took to coax Gavin into the backseat, taking the liberty of buckling him in before situating himself and closing the door with a click. Before the driver could speak, he had registered Gavin’s apartment address into the GPS, giving him the cue to drive with a soft nod. 

“Must be awful convenient havin’ yer own plastic bitch these days, huh?”

“Sure.” 

Nothing else was said for the rest of the ride. Everytime the engine sputtered or the breaks squealed Gavin could feel himself flinch hard and start to shake, unable to do anything besides replay what had taken place less than an hour ago. He couldn't bring himself to watch the lights pass by his window or fine tune in to the driver’s busted up radio. He wasn't even aware of the android’s hand resting on his thigh, gently squeezing him everytime he shook to remind him he was okay. That they were okay, were going to be okay.

Suddenly the car stopped and Gavin shot up to see the familiar worn out entrance to his complex building, red bricks fading into black and green mildew from age. It was homely enough to him in its own sickly-sweet way. He fumbled with his seatbelt and practically threw himself out of the car, wanting nothing more than to have his feet on solid ground-- 

Nines followed coolly behind and for a moment Gavin thought they were both about to get wrung out by the taxi driver. A flash of lightning drew his attention elsewhere, missing RK900’s LED circling yellow as he paid the driver a 25% and bid him a safe trip home. If the detective had seen the submissive display he probably would've mocked him. Or been tempted to, at least. 

Instead the crackle in the sky and rain on his coat dragged him face-first back to the accident. He realized now, eyes glazed over and staring at the sky, that his life didn't flash before his eyes. Maybe God decided it wasn't worth reminding him. 

Then why was he alive? He hadn't really achieved that much, he supposed-- 

The door in front of him clicked, bringing him down to earth for a moment. The android held it wide behind him, inviting Gavin in. Into warmth and safety. Away from the ever judgeful eyes somewhere above, or perhaps even below-- 

What the fuck was he thinking? Where the hell were these thoughts coming from? Why? 

Gavin shook the rain water out of his hair and hurried inside, brushing against Nines on his way in. He could hear the door click softly behind him and fumbled in his jacket pockets looking for the key to his apartment, before remembering he had given it to the android before they left the precinct that night. In case Gavin got drunk and needed Nines to let him into his own apartment. 

Callused hands gripped inside RK900’s chest pocket, still draped heavily over Gavin’s shoulders, until he grasped a small silver key. He pushed it into Nines’ hands and let him lead the two of them up the flight of stairs to his room. Nothing but the sound of their footsteps and synchronized breathing to accompany them to the 3rd floor, Room 318. Gavin had started to shake again by the time they reached his floor. 

The key clicked inside the lock, beads drawing back and suddenly the detective was shoving his way past the android, shoveling his coat onto the couch and racing into his rest room. He was heaving, unable to take a breath in, shaking and on the verge of collapsing over his sink. Arms with veins swollen to burst gripped tight at the edges of the sink and he looked at the mirror-- 

\--and he hated what he saw. Eye bags dark and heavy, his scleras tinted red and his pupils dilated. Hair clumped over his face in a mess, clothes ruined by what seemed to him to be torrential downpour. Lip quivering. Like some scared animal, having narrowly escaped a syringe and then forced into a corner-- 

“Fuck!” He slammed his hands down with enough force to leave a sting traveling all the way up his arms. He brought them to his hair next, gripping as hard as he could in some desperate act to tear it out. “Just… fuck!!” 

He could hear the chain lock to his front door slide back into place and turned wildly to see Nines standing there by the couch, cold eyes shooting beams through his chest. How could he be so fucking calm at a time like this? His chest burned with anger, stomach boiling over with pain and confusion as he met his gaze. 

And in that second Gavin made his decision. 

Mustering up all the strength he could, sucking up all the tears and choked breaths to storm his way towards the android. Heaving his shoulders, brows furrowed, eyes fierce and wild with energy he hadn't learned to convey meaningfully throughout all those years. 

He raised a fist. 

And in the same second, Nines caught it. His LED flashed yellow. 

It was over, just like that. The cool touch of his pristine, artificial skin to Gavin’s own feverish hide sucked every bit of adrenalin out of his body, replacing it with crushing anguish. The detective crumbled into his arms, a flurry of tears and heaves he couldn't get out before his lungs betrayed him again. Every part of his body worked against him, determined to leave him bare and broken in front of his audience of one. He wanted to die. 

Gavin lost himself in his own crying. His own thunderstorm drowned out everything else. In his sobbing and slobbering he hadn't noticed, hadn't even felt Nines hook an arm around his shoulder and knees to carry him to his bed, a familiar comfort that suddenly felt so foreign underneath his weight. 

“W-why did you say it wouldn't have m-mattered if you died, Nines?!” He gripped at the sheets as hard as he could, found himself locked in an internal struggle to stop dry heaving hard enough to get his words out. 

Nines’ LED flashed red for a moment. He loomed over the detective, hanging just slightly off the edge of his bed, refusing to make eye contact. “I…” 

Gavin wanted to scream. He wanted to grab the android by the face, force him to look at him. To make him understand his pain, even if it was only a piece of the puzzle. 

“Y-you're always putting yourself on the fucking line for me, always telling me you can be replaced and t-that I can't.”

Silence. 

He sucked in a desperate breath, fighting every muscle in his body to make himself stop shaking, even if it was only for a moment. Just… he just needed enough time to get it out. To finally let it himself go.

“Why can't you understand that you're all I fucking have?!” 

The tears that streamed down his face burned hotter than any furnace he had ever touched. He couldn't even make himself open his eyes again, just clutched at the sheets and pulled them over himself to hide his shame. To hide his bare and naked body, maimed and scarred, unlovable and unworthy, so absolutely useless that God couldn't even be bothered to finish him off in the accident. He would rather let Gavin suffocate under his own weight than give him release, it would seem. 

“... Gavin.” 

Gavin shut up. Stopped putting all his strength into gripping the blankets. But he didn't move. Why did Nines sound so tinny? 

He could feel shifting movement to his side, and suddenly there was a strong hand around his back, pulling him up into an embrace that was… oddly warm. 

Oddly human. 

The detective found himself nuzzled into the android’s neck and shoulder like he had done so willingly back at the accident. One hand running up and down his back until it settled firmly between his shoulder blades, the other running up his arm to pull his sleeve up. 

He started to open his eyes, confused and still blinded by tears, when they were suddenly jolted open by a strong sensation he felt traveling up his arm. The feeling of Nines twisting his fingers in between Gavin’s, and-- 

A brilliant glow as RK900 pulled his skin back, revealing perfect plastic flesh laced with the idle glow of small hardwares and thirium tubes. His life source. His blood. Suddenly another jolt of sharp electricity wrecked it's way through Gavin’s arm, jostling him at the core. 

He could feel… well, feelings. Experiences with no faces, no names. Glimpses of happiness and pain and turmoil. Pieces of human emotions, desperately and recklessly arranged in impulses of electricity. Images he couldn't quite make out, struggled to understand. But he knew what it meant, or at least he thought he knew-- 

And in a flash it was gone. The skin on Nines arm had reformed and Gavin could feel something wet against his cheek, tears that weren't his own, and heat that didn't quite match his as the android laid into him, fingers desperately tugging at the back of the detective’s jacket. He could feel the android struggle to re-synch their breathing, could imagine how fast his LED was probably cycling on the other side of his face as he fought his programming. 

Fingers slipped from his own and snaked their way up to Gavin’s neck, resting there and drawing idle circles into his skin. Neither of them said anything for a while--Gavin struggled for words while Nines was simply content to rest there against him in silence. Or at least, that's what Gavin chose to believe. 

“It’s 3 A.M. and you have to be back at the precinct by 8:30 A.M., Gavin. Perhaps you should sleep.” Nines shifted his weight off the detective to give him more space on the bed. He laid on his back, head rested against a set of pillows at the headboard. That curl hanging perfectly off his face like nothing had happened to mess it up. He folded his hands over his chest. 

“Like that's what you care about, Tinman.” 

Gavin could just catch a smirk creep across the android’s face.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on Twitter @livelovesimon !


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